A DESCRIPTION 

of 

TRINITY  CHURCH 


»*y 

The  ArcM teet 
Henry  Mobson  RMmrtat 


Description  of  the  Church 

AT  the  time  of  the  burning  of  the  old  Trinity 
Church,  on  Summer  Street,  the  project  for  a 
X Inew  building  was  well  advanced.  Land  had 
been  bought,  competitive  designs  had  been  invited  and 
received,  and  a selection  made ; and  a considerable 
amount  of  work  had  been  done  on  the  drawings  for  the 
new  structure. 

In  a modern  Church,  if  the  logical  sequence  of  one 
part  from  another  is  not  as  close  as  in  a mediaeval 
Cathedral,  still  it  is  true  that  every  detail  of  the  con- 
struction, from  the  front  steps  to  the  finish  on  the  roof, 
must  be  thought  over,  viewed  in  the  light  of  all 
probable  contingencies,  and  fixed  with  tolerable 
distinctness,  before  the  excavations  can  be  safely 
begun. 

Trinity  Church  was  no  exception  to  this  rule : the 
character  of  the  design,  and  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
on  which  the  building  was  to  stand,  brought  problems 
for  the  solution  of  which  no  familiar  precedent  existed, 
and  which  were  to  be  worked  out  by  accurate  and 
anxious  theoretical  investigation. 

On  testing  the  ground  at  the  site  a compact 
stratum  was  found,  overlaid  by  a quantity  of  alluvium, 
upon  which  a mass  of  gravel,  about  thirty  feet  deep, 
had  been  filled  in.  Upon  such  a foundation  was  to  be 
built  a structure,  the  main  feature  of  which  consisted 
in  a tower  weighing  nearly  nineteen  million  pounds, 
and  supported  on  four  piers.  The  first  pile  was  driven 
April  21,  1873.  Every  pile  was  watched,  numbered,  its 
place  marked  on  a plan  at  a large  scale,  and  a record 
made  of  the  weight  of  the  hammer  with  which  it  was 

( 1 ) 


driven,  the  distance  that  the  pile  sank  at  the  last  three 
blows,  and  the  height  from  which  the  hammer  fell. 
With  these  indications,  a map  of  the  bearing  stratum 
was  made,  with  contour  lines,  showing  the  surface  of 
the  clay  bed. 

Meanwhile,  the  preparatiop  of  the  plans  for  the 
superstructure  was  going  on,  and  the  last  of  the  four 
thousand  five  hundred  piles  which  support  the  build- 
ing had  not  been  driven  before  the  mason  work  was 
begun.  On  the  10th  of  October,  1873,  the  contract  was 
made  with  Messrs.  Norcross  Brothers,  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  for  the  masonry  and  carpenter  work  of  the 
structure;  the  Building  Committee,  who  had  a large 
quantity  of  stone  on  the  ground  brought  from  the  ruins 
of  the  Summer  Street  Church,  undertaking  to  furnish 
all  the  foundation  stone,  except  that  for  the  great  piers 
of  the  tower,  which  it  was  necessary  to  construct  of 
special  stones.  Under  the  centre  of  the  Church,  a 
space  ninety  feet  square  had  been  reserved  for  the 
tower  foundation,  and  this  had  been  driven  uniformly 
full  of  piles,  as  near  together  as  practicable,  over  two 
thousand  being  contained  within  the  area.  This  area, 
while  the  foundation  walls  for  the  other  parts  of  the 
Church  were  building,  was  subjected  to  various  pro- 
cesses, in  preparation  for  its  future  duty. 

The  piles  within  these  limits  were  cut  off  at 
“grade  five,”  six  inches  lower  than  the  piles  under  the 
other  portions  of  the  building,  as  an  excess  of  precau- 
tion against  any  failure  of  water  for  keeping  the  wood 
saturated.  The  ground  was  then  excavated  around  the 
heads  of  the  piles  to  a depth  of  two  feet,  and  replaced 
with  concrete.  The  concrete  was  mixed  on  the  ground, 
put  into  barrows,  and  wheeled  on  plank  ways  laid  on 
the  heads  of  the  piles  to  its  destination,  and  thrown 
into  the  excavation.  Four  successive  layers,  each  six 
inches  thick,  were  put  in,  and  each  thoroughly  com- 
pacted with  wooden  rammers.  The  upper  surface  of 
the  concrete  was  kept  one  inch  below  the  heads  of  the 

( 2 ) 


piles,  on  the  theory  that  the  piles  being  the  true 
support  of  the  structure,  it  was  important  that  every 
stone  should  rest  firmly  upon  them,  without  coming  in 
contact  with  the  concrete,  which  might  some  time  sink, 
by  the  settlement  of  the  gravel  filling,  and  cause  dis- 
location of  any  masonry  which  might  rest  partly  upon 
it  and  partly  on  the  unyielding  piles.  The  concrete, 
however,  had  an  important  use  in  preventing  the 
lateral  motion  of  the  piles,  and  to  some  extent  connect- 
ing them  together. 

Before  the  close  of  this  season,  the  first  course  of 
one  of  the  four  pyramids  which  form  the  foundation  of 
the  tower  piers,  had  been  laid  on  the  piles,  and  as  an 
experiment  the  outside  joints  were  cemented  up,  and 
the  whole  then  grouted  with  cement  and  sand  till  the 
joints  and  the  space  between  the  stone  and  concrete 
were  flushed  full.  The  pumping,  which  had  been 
constantly  kept  up  to  free  the  excavation  from  the 
water  which  came  in  through  the  gravelly  bottom,  then 
ceased,  and  the  water  was  allowed  to  enter  the  cavity, 
which  it  soon  filled  to  the  depth  of  about  four  feet,  and 
the  operations  on  the  ground  were  suspended  until  the 
following  spring.  During  the  winter,  however,  exten- 
sive preparations  were  made  for  the  following  season. 
Choice  had  been  made  of  the  Dedham  granite  for  the 
ashlar,  and  of  Longmeadow  freestone  for  the 
trimmings  and  cut  stone  work,  and  the  contractors 
hired  land  and  opened  quarries  of  their  own,  both  at 
Dedham  and  Longmeadow.  The  Dedham  granite  is  a 
fined  grained  stone,  of  a beautiful  color,  rather  re- 
sembling a sandstone  in  effect,  and  harmonizing  very 
well  with  the  brown  freestone,  but,  like  most  red 
granite,  being  only  found  at  the  surface  of  the  quarry, 
there  was  difficulty  in  procuring  stones  large  enough 
for  the  water-table  and  some  other  portions,  as  the 
same  atmospheric  or  other  influences  which  had  chang- 
ed the  upper  part  of  the  granite  ledge  from  its  natural 
gray  to  salmon  color,  had  caused  also  frequent  seams, 

( 3 ) 


imperceptible  at  first,  but  which  showed  themselves  by 
the  falling  to  pieces  of  the  largest  stones  while  being 
dressed. 

To  meet  this  difficulty,  search  was  made  and  a red 
granite  found  at  Westerly,  R.  I. , which,  although 
also  a surface  stone,  and  less  delicate  in  color  than  the 
Dedham,  was  of  admirable  quality,  pieces  twenty 
feet  long  or  over  being  easily  procured.  The  contrac- 
tors, with  praiseworthy  enterprise,  secured  land  here, 
and  opened  a third  quarry,  from  which  was  taken  all 
the  ashlar  below  and  including  the  water-table,  as  well 
as  a portion  of  the  largest  foundation  stones.  At  all 
these  quarries  work  was  prosecuted  through  the  win- 
ter, and  a large  quantity  of  material  accumulated,  be- 
sides many  hundred  tons  of  dimension  granite  of  ord- 
inary kinds,  for  the  foundation  of  the  great  piers,  for 
which  contracts  had  been  previously  made,  and  which 
was  procured  from  various  localities,  partly  from 
Rockport,  Mass.,  part  from  Quincy,  and  some  of  the 
best  stone  from  the  coast  of  Maine.  These  were  all 
large  stones,  weighing  from  one  to  four  tons  each,  and 
as  the  work  for  which  they  were  destined  was 
the  most  important  as  well  as  the  most  trying,  in 
the  building,  they  were  accepted  only  under  severe  re- 
strictions, no  stone  being  received  of  less  height  than 
twenty  or  more  than  twenty-four  inches,  or  less  than 
four  feet  long,  and  a certain  proportion  were  required 
to  be  eight  feet  long,  or  even  more. 

On  resuming  operations  in  the  spring  of  1874,  it 
was  found  that  the  tide  water,  coming  in  through  the 
gravel,  had  affected  the  setting  of  the  cement.  The 
concrete  was  in  a favorable  condition,  but  the  grouting 
of  the  masonry  which  had  been  started  for  the  pier  was 
still  very  soft,  although  made  with  a cement  which, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  sets  rapidly.  In  view 
of  this  unexplained  difficulty,  as  well  as  the  need  of 
being  able  to  proceed  rapidly  with  the  piers,  without 
being  obliged  to  wait  for  the  setting  of  any  doubtful 

(4) 


cement,  it  was  thought  best  to  reduce  the  matter  to 
certainty  by  using  Portland  cement  throughout  the 
piers.  A variety  of  English  and  French  Portland 
cements  was  tried,  but  the  result  seemed  equally  good 
with  all,  some  difference  in  the  rapidity  of  setting  being 
the  principal  variation.  The  stones  already  set  were 
taken  up  and  relaid,  and  with  the  substitution  of  the 
different  cement,  treated  as  before;  the  outer  joints 
being  packed  close,  and  the  inside  grouted  until  com- 
pletely full. 

At  first  the  Portland  cement  was  handled  like 
Rosendale  in  similar  circumstances,  the  cement  being 
mixed  rather  dry,  and  after  being  put  into  the  joints 
with  trowels,  compressed  as  much  as  possible  with 
rammers;  but  further  experience,  and  careful  trials, 
showed  equally  good  results  by  first  filling  the  larger 
joints  with  a trowel  and  the  dryer  mortar,  and  then 
mixing  some  rather  rich  cement,  sufficiently  liquid  to 
pour  into  the  smaller  joints  from  a bucket,  stirring  it 
well  with  the  thicker  portion,  until  the  whole  was  of  a 
medium  consistency,  and  had  penetrated  every  inter- 
stice of  the  stone-work.  Each  course  was  levelled  up 
to  a uniform  surface  with  cement,  and  chips  where 
necessary,  before  the  next  course  was  begun,  and  the 
upper  bed  of  the  third  course  from  the  top,  and  all  the 
vertical  and  horizontal  joints  of  the  two  upper  courses 
where  taken  out  of  wind  and  pointed,  so  as  to  form  a 
perfectly  close  joint. 

Toward  the  close  of  1874,  the  four  pyramids  of 
solid  granite,  each  thirty-five  feet  square  at  the  base 
and  seven  feet  square  at  the  top,  and  seventeen  feet 
high,  were  completed;  the  main  walls  of  the  Church 
being  then  well  advanced,  and  the  Chapel,  which  had 
been  urged  forward  with  great  rapidity,  nearly  finish- 
ed. In  the  construction  of  other  foundations  than 
those  of  the  tower,  the  stones  which  had  been  brought 
from  the  ruins  of  the  old  Church  after  the  fire,  were 
utilized  as  far  as  possible;  but  the  action  of  the  heat 

( 5 ) 


upon  them  had  produced  some  curious  results,  very 
unfavorable  to  their  use  in  a new  building.  The  stones 
which  were  simply  cracked  through  were  easily 
managed,  but  many  of  the  stones,  which  when  delivered 
on  the  grounds  were  as  square  and  neatly  jointed  as 
any  one  could  wish,  on  being  placed  in  the  wall  let  fall 
large  chips  from  the  corners,  concave  on  the  side 
toward  the  interior  of  the  stone.  These  would  be 
followed  by  successive  shells,  separating  like  the  coats 
of  an  onion,  and  apparently  of  indefinite  number. 

This  scaling  took  place  first  at  the  corners,  and  as 
the  concentric  layers  fell  away,  the  stone  was  reduced 
to  a round  ball,  completely  useless  for  building 
purposes.  The  best  and  largest  of  the  old  stones,  those 
from  the  tower,  had  been  most  exposed  to  the  fire  and 
were  most  subject  to  this  defect.  Even  after  a stone 
had  been  safely  placed  in  the  wall,  and  was  apparently 
perfect,  the  imposition  of  the  next  course  would  some- 
times cause  shells  to  separate  from  the  upper  corners 
of  the  stones  already  laid,  so  that  the  stones  above  them 
rested  on  the  summit  of  a convex  surface,  which  if  was 
impossible  to  wedge  up,  and  both  courses  had  to  be 
removed.  The  only  certain  mode  of  testing  the  stones 
was  by  striking  them  with  a hammer,  when  the  clear 
ring  of  a sound  stone  could  by  a little  experience  be 
distinguished  from  the  dull  note  of  blocks  which  con- 
tained latent  cracks.  The  defective  stones  were  thus 
separated  from  the  sound,  and  rejected. 

In  November,  1874,  the  Chapel  building  was 
finished,  the  transept,  chancel  and  aisle  walls,  as  well 
as  the  western  front,  being  then  high  above  the  ground. 
During  the  winter,  the  stone  for  the  remainder  of  the 
building  was  cut,  the  larger  portion  of  the  work  being 
upon  the  granite  for  the  upper  part  of  the  piers  which 
carry  the  tower.  These  were  built  of  blocks  of  Westerly 
granite,  each  five  feet  by  two  and  one-half,  and  twenty 
inches  high,  with  hammered  vertical  and  horizontal 
joints.  These  were  laid  in  cement,  in  pairs,  forming 

( 6 ) 


a pillar  five  feet  square  in  section,  the  joints  of  alter- 
nate courses  crossing.  For  laying  these  piers  and  the 
adjoining  walls,  as  well  as  the  arches  between  the  piers, 
a massive  scaffold  was  built,  standing  independently 
upon  the  four  pyramids  of  the  tower  foundation.  Four 
derricks  stood  upon  this  structure,  and  not  only  the 
pier  stones,  weighing  two  tons  each,  were  easily 
handled,  but  the  same  stage  served  afterward  to  carry 
the  centres  for  the  great  arches,  and  the  whole  super- 
structure of  scaffolding,  to  the  very  top  of  the  tower, 
no  outside  staging  being  used.  This  “great  stage,”  as 
it  was  called,  remained  in  place  for  more  than  two 
years. 

In  the  construction  of  the  great  arches,  and  for 
tying  the  piers  at  their  summit  to  the  walls  of  the  nave 
and  transept,  iron  was  used,  but  sparingly,  and  as  a 
matter  of  precaution,  rather  than  necessity,  the 
weights  and  points  of  application  of  the  adjoining 
walls  having  been  calculated  to  furnish  sufficient  re- 
sistance to  the  thrust  of  the  arches,  without  the  aid  of 
ties.  In  general,  throughout  the  building,  the  use  of 
iron  was  avoided  as  far  as  might  be,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  staircase  turret,  which  is  supported  by  a 
double  set  of  iron  beams  over  the  vestibule  below,  no 
masonry  in  the  Church  is  dependant  on  metal  for  sup- 
port. In  the  Chapel,  where  the  exigencies  of  convenient 
disposition  demanded  some  wide  spans,  iron  beams  are 
used,  and  one  or  two  of  the  stone  lintels  are  reinforced 
by  concealed  girders. 

Some  changes  in  the  design  were  made  as  the  work 
went  on,  in  compliance  with  real  or  fancied  necessities 
of  convenience  or  construction,  and  it  is  not  out  of 
place  to  say,  that  the  modifications  of  outline  required 
by  the  change  in  proportion  of  walls  and  tower  thus 
made,  can  hardly  yet  be  considered  as  fully  carried  out, 
so  that  the  actual  building  at  present  lacks,  perhaps, 
the  unity  of  the  original  design,  without  attaining  a 
new  unity  of  its  own.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with 

( 7 ) 


regard  to  the  western  towers : a lowering  of  the  Church 
walls,  made  in  hope  of  affording  an  additional  guaran- 
tee of  good  acoustic  quality  in  the  building,  which  was 
felt  to  be  a paramount  consideration,  changed  the  pro- 
portion of  walls  and  tower  in  a manner  which  should 
have  been  counteracted  by  increasing  the  height  of  the 
western  front,  including  the  towers  which  form  a 
part  of  it,  and  the  amended  drawings  comprehended 
this  alteration  as  an  aesthetic  necessity,  but  the 
increase  of  height  not  being  a constructional  necessity, 
and  the  additional  cost  being  of  some  importance,  the 
full  completion  of  the  design  was,  to  the  regret  of  all 
parties,  abandoned  till  some  future  time. 

In  modifying  the  internal  form  to  meet  the  new 
requirements,  the  present  shape  of  ceiling  was  adopted 
in  place  of  that  originally  intended.  In  the  modified 
form  the  tie-beams  cross  the  Church  at  the  level  of  the 
wall  plate,  coming  at  the  cusps  of  the  trefoil. 

Although  it  was  often  suggested  during  the 
progress  of  the  work,  that  the  great  piers,  at  least, 
should  show  the  stone  face  apparent  in  the  Church, 
this  has,  nevertheless,  from  the  first  conception  of  the 
design  seemed  in  many  ways  undesirable,  and  propo- 
sitions looking  to  that  end  have  been,  after  careful 
consideration,  always  finally  rejected.  A rich  effect  of 
color  in  the  interior  was  an  essential  element  of  the 
design,  and  this  could  not  be  obtained  in  any  practic- 
able material  without  painting.  Brickwork,  which 
might  have  been  strong  enough  in  color,  would  not  have 
endured  the  strain  upon  it,  and  the  use  of  granite  was 
a necessity  of  construction.  The  cold,  harsh  effect  of 
this  stone  in  the  midst  of  the  color  decoration,  could 
not  be  tolerated,  and  as  between  painting  directly  on 
the  stone,  and  plastering  it  to  secure  a smooth  surface, 
it  seemed  decidedly  preferable  that  there  should  be  no 
difference  in  texture  between  the  piers  and  the  other 
walls,  but  that  all  should  be  plastered  alike.  The 

( 8 ) 


commonplace  criticism  that  plaster  “conceals  construc- 
tion/' can  hardly  be  considered  to  apply  here,  for  the 
piers  and  arches  being  simply  portions  of  the  wall,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  show  any  reason  for  plastering  the 
other  walls  which  would  not  apply  equally  to  the 
piers;  and  that  the  inner  surface  of  the  walls  must  in 
all  cases  be  exposed,  is  a dictum  from  which  the  most 
conscientious  would  shrink. 

In  July,  1876,  the  last  stone  was  laid  in  the  tower. 
The  body  of  the  Church  had  already  been  roofed  in, 
furred  and  plastered,  and  in  the  tower  itself  a bell  deck 
had  been  built,  with  a hatchway  for  hoisting.  It 
remained  only  to  roof  the  tower,  and  give  up  the 
building  to  the  joiners  and  the  decorators.  The 
design  of  the  Church  had  always  contemplated  tile 
roofing,  at  least  for  the  towers,  but  it  was  with  some 
difficulty  that  an  entirely  suitable  tile  was  found. 
English  tiles  were  imported  as  samples,  but  were 
found  too  absorbent  to  be  depended  on  in  our  trying 
climate.  A glazed  or  semi-glazed  surface  seemed 
requisite,  and  this  was  at  length  found  in  an  American 
tile,  made  in  Akron,  Ohio,  and  affording  some 
advantages  in  closeness  of  cover,  as  well  as  in  a 
vitrified  texture,  incapable  of  absorbing  moisture.  The 
color  was  also  satisfactory  in  effect. 

For  the  crockets,  which  relieved  the  dryness 
of  the  outline,  it  was  found  necessary  to  send  to  a 
distance  also.  Although  not  in  themselves  very  large, 
they  were  beyond  the  size  of  articles  usually  undertaken 
by  the  Eastern  potters,  except  the  workers  in  fire-clay 
which  was  unsuitable  by  its  color;  and  arrangements 
were  made  with  the  Chicago  Terra  Cotta  Company 
for  their  manufacture.  Together  with  the  crockets 
were  ordered  hip  rolls  for  the  octagonal  roof  of  the 
main  tower,  and  the  square  roofs  of  the  western  towers. 
This  commission  was  successfully  executed,  and  the 
crockets  proved  satisfactory  in  color  and  effect.  While 
this  work  was  going  on  outside,  the  interior  finishing 

( 9 ) 


was  pursued  without  interruption.  The  windows  were 
glazed  with  common  glass,  bordered  by  patterns  of 
colored  glass,  for  temporary  use  only,  it  being  hoped 
that  most,  if  not  all  the  windows,  would  ultimately  be 
filled  with  memorial  stained  glass. 

The  Chapel  room  in  the  second  story  of  the  Chapel 
building,  is  47  feet  by  63  feet  8 inches,  with  a vestibule 
added  at  the  north-east  corner,  12  feet  by  23,  these  two 
rooms  occupying  the  whole  superficial  area  of  the 
building. 

As  soon  as  the  building  was  enclosed,  the  negotia- 
tions for  the  decoration,  which  had  been  pending  for 
some  time,  were  concluded,  and  a definite  contract  was 
entered  into  with  Mr.  John  La  Farge,  by  which  he  not 
only  undertook  to  design  and  supervise  the  work,  but 
made  himself  responsible  for  the  whole  expenditure, 
purchasing  the  colors,  employing  all  the  subordinates, 
from  the  hardly  less  distinguished  gentlemen  who 
assisted  him  in  his  own  special  work,  down  to  the  little 
boy  of  all  work,  who  ran  the  errands  and  stirred  the 
barrels  of  color.  This  responsibility,  formidable  as 
it  must  seem  to  a professional  man  wholly  unused  to 
business  affairs,  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  La  Farge,  it 
is  fair  to  say,  much  less  from  any  hope  of  pecuniary 
profit,  which  he  had  little  reason  to  expect,  than  from 
a true  artistic  enthusiasm  for  a work  so  novel,  and 
affording  such  an  opportunity  for  the  highest  exercise 
of  a painter’s  talents ; and  the  task,  so  undertaken,  was 
pursued  with  great  self  devotion  to  a most  successful 
completion. 

After  the  preliminary  arrangements  were  made, 
Mr.  La  Farge,  preferring  the  completeness  and 
thoroughness  of  the  work  to  his  own  pecuniary  interest, 
decided  to  paint  all  the  better  part  of  the  decoration, 
including  of  course  the  figures,  with  an  encaustic 
medium,  consisting  of  wax,  melted  with  turpentine, 
alcohol,  and  Venice  turpentine,  in  certain  proportions, 
instead  of  mixing  the  colors  with  an  ordinary 

( 10  ) 


distemper  medium  of  water  and  size. 

The  encaustic  process  is  much  more  costly,  but 
once  done  the  colors  protected  by  the  wax  are  indes- 
tructible. Even  water  flowing*  over  them,  which  would 
utterly  obliterate  a distemper  painting,  scarcely  affects 
the  encaustic  colors. 

With  the  greatest  exertion  on  the  part  of  the 
artist,  it  was  necessary  to  ask  for  an  extension  of  the 
time  allowed  by  the  contract  for  finishing  the  decor- 
ation, and  great  as  was  the  impatience  of  the  par- 
ish to  take  possession  of  their  Church,  after  having 
been  for  four  years  in  a manner  homeless,  the  desired 
extension  was  kindly  granted,  and  at  the  same  time 
a further  appropriation  of  money  was  made,  particul- 
arly for  the  decoration  of  the  roof,  and  for  gilding 
certain  portions  of  the  work,  changes  which  the  artist 
thought  desirable,  but  which  were  not  included  in  the 
original  contract.  These  modifications  were  carried 
out,  and  at  last  the  work,  which  had  excited  great 
interest  among  the  public,  was  handed  over  to  the 
Committee. 

As  soon  as  the  decoration  was  finished,  the 
scaffoldings  were  removed;  and  the  pews  and  chancel 
furniture,  which  were  all  made  and  ready  to  set  up, 
were  rapidly  put  in  place.  Meanwhile  the  organ  was 
being  fixed  in  position  and  tuned. 

About  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  of  February 
1,  1877,  the  first  timbers  of  the  great  stage,  which  had 
been  in  place  nearly  two  and  a half  years,  were  knocked 
away,  and  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  February  3,  the 
whole  had  been  removed.  By  the  evening  of  February 
8,  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  Consecration, 
which  took  place  the  following  day. 

In  plan,  the  Church  as  it  stands  is  a Latin  cross, 
with  a semicircular  apse  added  to  the  eastern  arm. 
The  arms  of  the  cross  are  short,  in  proportion  to  their 
width.  In  general,  taking  the  square  at  the  inter- 
section of  nave  and  transepts  as  a modulus,  the  total 

( 11  ) 


length  of  the  auditorium  is  three  squares,  of  which  the 
chancel,  including  the  apse,  forms  one,  the  square  at 
the  intersection  another,  and  the  nave  a third,  the 
transepts  being  each  half  a square.  Over  the  square 
at  the  intersection  stands  the  tower.  The  aisles  would 
be  very  narrow  for  a Gothic  Church,  but  are  in  cha- 
racter for  the  Romanesque,  and  are  much  more  service- 
able when  thus  reduced  to  passage-ways,  than  when 
their  width  compels  their  being  occupied  by  pews.  The 
clear-story  is  carried  by  an  arcade  of  two  arches  only. 
Above  the  aisles  a gallery  is  carried  across  the  arches, 
which,  from  its  position,  was  distinguished  by  the 
names  of  the  “triforium”  gallery,  and  serves  as  a pas 
sage  to  connect  the  three  main  galleries,  one  across 
either  transept,  and  one  across  the  west-end  of  the 
nave,  over  the  vestibule.  Both  the  west  gallery  and  the 
two  triforium  galleries  connect  with  the  staircases 
which  occupy  the  western  towers,  and  the  transept  gal- 
leries are  also  reached  by  special  staircases,  ascending, 
one  from  a north-eastern  vestibule,  which  serves  as  en- 
trance both  from  Huntington  Avenue  directly  and 
from  the  cloister  communicating  with  the  Chapel,  and 
the  other  from  a south-eastern  vestibule  entered  from 
St.  James  Avenue.  The  robing  room  opens  from  the 
north-east  vestibule,  as  well  as  from  the  chancel.  The 
main  western  vestibule  is  52  feet  long,  the  width  of  the 
nave,  without  counting  the  lower  story  of  the  western 
towers,  which  virtually  form  a part  of  it,  and  increase 
its  length  to  upwards  of  86  feet.  In  the  middle  of  the 
west  front  is  the  main  portal,  and  a secondary  door 
opens  into  each  of  the  towers,  giving  thus  three  ent- 
rances in  the  west  front,  and  five  double  doors  open 
from  the  western  vestibule  into  the  Church.  The  upper 
regions  of  the  Church  are  reached  by  a winding  stair 
in  the  north-eastern  turret  of  the  great  tower,  starting 
from  the  room  over  the  north-east  vestibule.  This 
lands  at  the  bell  deck  over  the  flat  ceiling  which  closes 
the  tower  in  the  Church.  The  whole  interior  of  the 

(12) 


Church  and  Chapel  is  finished  in  black  walnut,  and  all 
the  vestibules  in  ash  and  oak. 

The  style  of  the  Church  may  be  characterized  as 
a free  rendering  of  the  French  Romanesque,  inclining 
particularly  to  the  school  that  flourished  in  the  ele- 
venth century  in  Central  France,  — the  ancient  Aqui- 
taine, — which,  secure,  politically,  on  the  one  hand 
from  the  Norman  pirates,  and  on  the  other  from  the 
Moorish  invasions,  as  well  as  architecturally  emanci- 
pated from  the  influence  of  the  classical  traditions 
and  examples  which  still  ruled  the  southern  provinces, 
developed  in  various  forms  a system  of  architecture  of 
its  own,  differing  from  the  classical  manner  in  that, 
while  it  studied  elegance,  it  was  also  constructional, 
and  from  the  succeeding  Gothic,  in  that,  although  con- 
structional, it  could  sacrifice  something  of  mechanical 
dexterity  for  the  sake  of  grandeur  and  repose. 

Among  the  branches  of  the  Romanesque  of  Cen- 
tral France,  nowhere  were  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  the  style  so  strongly  marked  as  in  the  peaceful, 
enlightened  and  isolated  cities  of  Auvergne.  The  cen- 
tral tower,  a reminiscence,  perhaps,  of  the  domes  of 
Venice  and  Constantinople,  was  here  fully  developed, 
so  that  in  many  cases  the  tower  became,  as  it  were, 
the  Church,  and  the  composition  took  the  outline  of 
a pyramid,  the  apse,  transepts,  nave  and  chapels  form- 
ing only  the  base  to  the  obelisk  of  the  tower. 

In  studying  the  problem  presented  by  a building 
fronting  on  three  streets,  it  appeared  desirable  that 
the  tower  should  be  central,  thus  belonging  equally  to 
each  front,  rather  than  putting  it  on  any  corner, 
where,  from  at  least  one  side,  it  would  be  nearly  out  of 
sight;  and  in  carrying  out  this  motive,  it  was  plain 
that  with  the  ordinary  proportion  of  Church  and  tower, 
either  the  tower  must  be  comparatively  small,  which 
would  bring  its  supporting  piers  inconveniently  into 
the  midst  of  the  congregation,  or  the  tower  being  large, 
the  rest  of  the  Church  must  be  magnified  to  inordinate 

( 13) 


proportions.  For  this  dilemma  the  Auvergnat  solution 
seemed  perfectly  adapted.  Instead  of  the  tower  being 
an  inconvenient  and  unnecessary  addition  to  the 
Church,  it  was  itself  made  the  main  feature.  The 
struggle  for  precedence,  which  often  takes  place  be- 
tween a Church  and  its  spire,  was  disposed  of,  by  at 
once  and  completely  subordinating  nave,  transepts, 
and  apse,  and  grouping  them  about  the  tower  as  the 
central  mass. 

The  two  great  figures  on  the  western  facade,  the 
details  of  sculpture  upon  the  transept  ends,  and  the 
tympana  of  the  doors  and  windows,  still  remain  un- 
finished, and  must  be  left  for  the  future.  But  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  a style  are  indepen- 
dent of  details ; especially  is  this  the  case  in  the  Roman- 
esque, which  in  its  treatment  of  masses,  affords  an 
inexhaustible  source  of  study  quite  independent  of 
its  merits  as  a school  of  sculpture. 

The  Dimensions  of  the  Church  are  as  follows : 

Feet  Inches 

Extreme  width  across  transepts  to  outside 

of  walls  120  10 

Width  of  west  front  92  10 

Width  of  nave  from  centre  to  centre  of 

piers  of  arcade  53  10 

Width  of  aisles,  from  the  inside  of  walls  to 

centre  of  piers  of  arcade  9 4 

Extreme  length  of  Church,  outside  to 

outside  of  walls  159  11 

Depth  of  chancel,  from  front  of  chancel 
steps  to  the  extremity  of  the  apse,  inside 
the  walls  57  5 

Width  of  chancel,  inside  the  walls  52  2 

Width  of  transepts  51  10 

Interior  dimensions  of  tower,  46  feet 

square;  clear  span  of  great  arches  46  6 

Height  of  great  piers  from  Church  floor 

to  spring  of  arches  36  3 


(14) 


Height  from  floor  to  upper  point  of  nave 


ceiling  63  3 

Height  from  floor  to  ceiling  of  tower  103  2 

Height  of  exterior  walls  from  ground  line  to 
cornice  48 

Height  from  ground  line  to  cornice  of 
tower  121  5 

Height  from  ground  line  to  the  highest  stone 
in  the  building  149  7 

Height  from  ground  line  to  topmost  point  of 
finial  211  3 


These  were  the  dimensions  of  the  church  in  1877,  before  the 
Galilee , western,  Porch  was  added,  twenty  years  later. 


( 15  ) 


